


Loosened Lips

by Seafalling



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alcohol, Drinking, Gen, Mild Gore, Past Abuse, alcohol?, nothing too bad tho, they all drink btw, this is super vague just vibe w it, yeah these four all need therapy desperately
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26765470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seafalling/pseuds/Seafalling
Summary: Crystal, Fate, Fang, and Ivy talk about nightmares over a drink— and none of them can lie.
Kudos: 4





	Loosened Lips

Crystal swirled what remained of her drink in its worn glass. Sighing, she wondered if getting drunk was really worth it. I’m a commander, a leader. How improper. She wasn’t meant to lead an army. Her talents had always lied with helping other people when they needed it. Even after centuries, her grasp on tactics was mediocre at best.

“Crystal.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised when Fate appeared in the doorway to her oversized kitchen, her orange crystal giving a faint glow. 

“You have this massive place, and you decide to sit on the ground,” Fate said, sitting across from Crystal, who was leaning against a cabinet.

“Did you come here to chide me and give yourself back problems? Or are you here to get piss-drunk on my nice floors?”

“That depends. What’s the drink?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. Figured I’d start small and get myself tipsy first.”

Crystal handed the unlabeled, mostly full bottle to Fate, who sniffed the contents warily. The shorter woman promptly swallowed a mouthful before placing the uncorked bottle between them.

“You’re not lying, that’s for sure. I guess I could say there’s an undercurrent of misinformation, but not enough to say you’re lying,” Fate pointed out as her crystal took on a slightly brighter glow. 

Crystal twirled the string of her own crystal, looking down at the purple for a moment. “It’s the crystals. Or at the very least, the magic. Prevents us from being even close to lightweights. To put it minimally: both of us can hold our drinks.”

“What are you two doing?” A dull voice cut in.

Ivy stood in the doorway, her nightclothes hanging loosely off her body and her gray-streaked hair tied into a low ponytail.

Fate grabbed the bottle and raised it, careful not to spill any. “We’re trying to get drunk.”

“That drink doesn’t seem to be doing much,” Ivy said, taking a seat on Fate’s right.

Crystal and Fate both laughed dryly.

Another figure in the wide doorway. “Real funny, folks. I’d admonish y’all for not being asleep, but then I’d be a hypocrite.” 

Fang sat down on Fate’s left. “I’m the only one who’d admit it first: I had a nightmare.”

The air stilled, if only for a moment. 

Fang continued. “I’ll join you guys, because I know that the three of y’all aren’t going to bed again anytime soon. It’s much too quiet in our room anyway.”

Fate, still holding the bottle, gestured with it. “Half-truth. Might as well be lying. Out with it.”  
She handed the glass bottle to Fang, who took it but didn’t take a drink. 

“I’m back in Comet’s old prison camp. I’m out of my cell, but I can’t leave. I can’t do anything right because I’m in sensory overload due to my powers. I’m constantly worried and constantly breaking things. And there’s nothing particularly scary, but I’m alone. I feel so empty. When I wake up, I feel like a lifetime has gone by, and when I look at my arm, there’s still four pale lines,” finishing, Fang took several large gulps from the glass.

Fate reached to the side and pulled it from his hands. “Complete truth.” 

Crystal snagged the bottle from Fate. “My turn.”

“It’s kind of like Fang’s dream. I’m kneeling at the graves of the predecessors, and I’m alone. Things are different from how they actually happened. I stand at the graves and feel centuries go by. Years and years, until I lose track of how many have passed,” Crystal said. 

“Despite the barrier still being in place, Comet appears beside me. I can’t die, but he gives me wounds until everything in sight is crimson. I’ve bled all over their graves, and continue to do so. I can hardly feel the pain because the only thing I feel is guilt.”

“Truth,” Fate says unceremoniously, taking the bottle without another word.

Following Fang’s example, she took several gulps. “Y’all will love this one. I’m thin. Worse than thin, I’m malnourished, all skin and bones. My old mentor is there, and she slowly begins to break my bones like they’re twigs. The whole time, she looks pleased. She’s taking a sick sort of delight in my pain. I’m standing there, my body broken beyond repair, and she kisses me. Then I wake up.”

Crystal could’ve sworn that Fang and Ivy stopped breathing for a moment.

Ivy mechanically pulled the bottle from Fate’s hands. “Who was your mentor?” She said, her voice barely masking her anger.

“Not like she broke all my bones. I’m sure you’ve all noticed my crooked fingers by now. But to answer your question, her name was Amethyst.”

Ivy paused, then downed the rest of the bottle until there was a few mouthfuls left. 

“My turn, isn’t it? Fine. I’m back at the village I lived in when I was seven. It’s strange, because I haven’t dreamt about this event in years. Anyway, I’m seven, and there’s these three girls in the village that I idolize. I wanted nothing more than to be friends with them. It’s the dead of winter and there’s a blizzard raging outside. Two of them lie to me and tell me that the girl that I’m closest to is stuck outside the village in the blizzard.”

“Truth.”

“I didn’t even hesitate to go out there. I was out there for a day, and nearly died because those girls were cruel and wanted a laugh. Real funny, especially since I lost my left pinkie and four of my toes.” To emphasize her point, Ivy held up her four-fingered left hand. “But in the dream I’m stuck in the forest, slowly freezing to death, when everything changes. Suddenly, the forest is on fire and I’m trapped in the flames. The fire never truly reaches my skin, so I’m alright, but then I hear voices. All the people I’ve ever cared about are yelling at me. I don’t even remember what they say, but they yell until I want to leap into the fire myself.”

“Truth.”

Crystal pushed herself up slowly. “It’s been nice, but perhaps we should get to bed.”

Fate rushed and grabbed the bottle, then jabbed her heel onto the stone floor. “You’re a fucking liar, you know that?” A nearly invisible barrier materialized in the wide doorway.

Crystal touched the surface of the barrier, the surface shining like glass. Ivy and Fang stood up, taking in the scene before them, wary of what was about to unfold. 

“You lied about everything but your nightmare. You think you can get away with lying? Not around me, bitch. I’ve got no patience for a liar, especially one that’s in a position such as yours,” Fate said harshly. 

“You say you’ve not no patience for liars, and yet you’re one of them!”

Fang cut in, placing his arms between Fate and Crystal in an attempt to placate them.

“You really don’t have to fight,” he said. 

“I’ll admit it: I have lied. But what do you want me to do? Spill all my secrets out to you?” Fate spat.

“Yes. Considering you pry until you’ve gotten all of ours, it’s only far for you to share in turn,” Crystal said sharply. 

“Fine! Do you really need me to tell you how everyone hated me? How I was forced to learn how to fight even though my magic forces fighting to become useless to me? My mentor hated me and how I couldn’t fight, so to vent her frustration, she’d break my bones!”

Crystal heard Fang and Ivy gasp, trying to hide their shock. I shouldn’t have asked. She’s going to hate me for this.

“And it worked great too! It kept me incapacitated and weak, and she’d be the one in charge of looking after me. She’d deprive me of food for days, then force me to eat food my body wouldn’t be able to properly digest at the time!”

Crystal debated destroying the barrier and fleeing.

“When I turned twenty-one, I wasn’t allowed to officially gain a certification because of how long I spent healing during my apprenticeship. When Amethyst expressed a desire to “date” me once I finished my apprenticeship, I knew I had to flee. Before things went too far,” Fate said, speaking the last sentence somewhat softly, distinctly different from her usual blunt and playful tone.

“You all know the rest I suppose....”

Crystal let the barrier drop, and Fate brushed past her to leave the kitchen, not making a sound. She looked over to Fang and Ivy, who were having very different reactions to Fate’s unexpected confession. Fang seemed to be disassociating, his eyes wide and his gaze spacey; he wasn’t moving at all. Ivy had her left hand raised to her mouth, looking pallid even under the gentle moonlight. She looked as if she was sweating or was going to be sick.

“Fang,” Ivy said. “Let’s head back to our quarters.”

They meekly left the kitchen.

Crystal bit her lip, and turned toward the door. There wasn’t a buzzing in her veins. Any tipsiness from the alcohol had washed away.

Fate had left the empty bottle in the doorway. When had she had the reminder of the drink?

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first work on ao3! hopefully the formatting isn’t too terrible considering im posting this from my phone,,  
> anyway this story was written about a bunch of my characters in a annoyingly difficult to explain world and im just tired. yeah but i like how this turned out so! ye


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